• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, December 3, 2019

Unilever has promoted Conny Braams, currently its executive vice president for middle Europe, to the post of chief digital and marketing officer, effective Jan. 1.

She replaces Keith Weed, the high-profile former CMO, who retired in May after 35  years in various roles at the CPG giant.

In recent years, Weed led Unilever’s efforts to stop ad, viewability and influencer fraud and vowed to take the company’s business away from platforms it thought were unethical.  Weed created a list of trusted publishers and took steps to bring more of Unilever’s advertising and marketing in-house. Braams is likely to continue those efficiency and safety efforts.

Unilever owns such well-known brands as  Dove, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Vaseline, Ben & Jerry’s, Noxzema and Q-Tips, and many others. It spends about $8 billion a year on advertising.

There had been speculation that Alan Jope, Unilever’s CEO, wouldn’t replace Weed -- though he denied it. But Braams’ title, which adds the role of chief digital officer, is a new wrinkle.

In naming Braams, Jope said her background at the company, the world’s second largest advertiser, would help Unilever toward becoming “a future-fit, fully digitized organization at the leading edge of consumer marketing.”

Braams joined Unilever in 1990 and has held various marketing and general management posts for the company in Europe and Asian markets. Besides her current role as executive vice president of what is the the company’s largest unit, Braams also led Unilever’s Food Solutions unit for Asia, Africa and the Middle East from 2010-2016.

In another big change, the president and CEO of Revlon, Fabian Garcia, will become the new president of Unilever North America, also effective next year.  Garcia replaces Amanda Sourry, who the company says “has decided to retire after more than 30 years of service.” Jope lauded Sourry as “one of the company’s best leaders of recent times.”

Prior to Revlon, Garcia was chief operating officer, global innovation and growth, Colgate Palmolive. He started his career as an executive with Unilever rival Procter & Gamble.